The Vodafone PBL Season 2 ended with a rousing note, thanks to the thrilling finale between the Chennai Smashers and Mumbai Rockets which ended 4-3 in favour of the former. The 2017 season turned out exactly what it promised to be, unpredictable, exciting and keenly-fought!

Along with the stars on court, there was an exponential rise in star power off it too. Bengaluru TopGuns were renamed to Bengaluru Blasters this year because of a change in the ownership with the likes of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, Telugu cinema stars Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and Allu Arvind coming on board along with Nimmagadda Prasad.

Season 2 was well-received by the people as well, who made their presence felt in strong numbers at each of the venues, voicing their support for their favourite players and teams. Going into the tournament, there was a lot of buzz created by the ‘Baddie Brigade’ via social media. Here, two lucky fans were chosen to meet their favourite player from numerous participants who were part of the ‘Saina Brigade’ and ‘Sindhu Brigade’, giving them a chance of a lifetime to meet their real-life heroes.

On the court, we look at the important factors that contributed to making the tournament a success this year.

New 11-point format

With five matches in each tie, each game was reduced to 11 points from 15 in the previous edition to make for a fast-paced affair. This meant that there was little time for players to bide time and get into the groove eventually. They had to get going right from the beginning or else the match could be over by the time one realises the gravity of the situation. It was new for every player and each one of them had to adjust to it. Add the ‘Trump’ matches to the mix where each team gets to choose one match in the tie which will give them double points for a win and a negative point for losing it, what we got was teams fight hard for each and every point with no clear favourite to choose from.

The Delhi Acers are an example of that, as the defending champs boasted of two men’s singles players who are ranked in the top 4 in the world in Jan O Jorgensen (number 2) and Son Wan Ho (number 4) along with the 2016 All England Championship-winning men’s doubles duo of Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov, which made them arguably the strongest team on paper only to finish last in the group stages much to everyone’s surprise.

Prannoy leads Indian men’s charge

It was not just about Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu hogging the headlines, there were a few other Indians too, who made their presence felt in the tournament. Chief among those has undoubtedly been Mumbai Rockets’ HS Prannoy. He and Jayaram being the two main singles players for the Rockets had prompted many to write-off the 2016 runner-up’s chances. Prannoy won all seven matches he played, becoming the only undefeated singles player in the 2017 edition. He showed tremendous grit and character along with a solid all-round game, with his tough win against Parupalli Kashyap in the final being the standout.

Jayaram too, played his part as he won two Trump matches against the likes of Jorgensen, Viktor Axelsen and even defeated Kidambi Srikanth before falling short in a tense decider against Tanongsak S in the final. Singles-playing siblings Sourabh and Sameer Verma also gave a good account of themselves with 20-year-old former junior world number 1 Aditya Joshi giving Kashyap an almighty scare in the only game he played.

The emergence of Satwik Sai Raj

In doubles, the biggest impact was from Hyderabad Hunters’ 17-year-old Satwik Sai Raj who formed a more-than-formidable pairing with Chau Hoi Wah as his court coverage and booming smashes belied his tender years. Satwik caught the attention when he and Wah recorded a stunning win against the experienced Nadiezda Zieba and the brilliant former doubles number 1 Lee Yong Dae. The explosive Satwik is surely one to watch out for in the future.

Sindhu reigns supreme

With Nehwal still battling back to her old self, it was Sindhu who impressed more as she won all but one of her matches to be the driving force for the Chennai Smashers. Coming back from an injury, Nehwal used the tournament to regain her touch, with the highlight for her being the win over world number 3 Sung Ji-Hyun. Little-known Tanvi Lad faced a trial by fire as she squared off against the likes of Carolina Marin, Sindhu and Sung Ji-Hyun in the three matches she played. Despite losing all three, she exhibited great spunk and didn’t give up without a fight against her illustrious opponents. Sikki Reddy also impressed in her mixed doubles outings partnering the experienced Ko Sung-Hyun. Also, worth mentioning is doubles specialist Ashwini Ponnappa’s first singles match in six years against none other than Marin, whom she took to the limit and almost pulled off the unthinkable.

Foreign flavour

Foreign players were crucial to their team’s fortunes with champions Chennai Smashers being the prime beneficiary. The husband-wife pair of Chris and Gabrielle Adcock along with the gigantic Dane, Mads Pieler Kolding proved vital to their team’s fortunes throughout. Kolding, in fact, even set a world record for the fastest smash with a 426 km/hr blast in the group stages. Tanongsak and Tommy Sugiarto also delivered when it mattered with the former’s terrific comeback win in the final, delivering the PBL crown to the Smashers. Marin and Sung Ji-Hyun were excellent for Hyderabad Hunters and Mumbai Rockets respectively which meant that the women’s singles always made for an exciting watch. For the Hunters, the two Tans – Tan Wee Kiong and Tan Boon Heong were formidable in doubles along with Chau Hoi Wah and Rajiv Ouseph in mixed doubles and men’s singles respectively. The Rockets too, had Dae, Zieba and Nipithphon P to thank for their brilliant run to a second successive final despite being the underdogs. Other notable performers include Awadhe Warriors’ Goh V Shem, Markis Kido, Savitree Amitrapai, Bodin Issara and Vincent Wong Ki; the super Korean doubles duo of Yoo Yeon Seong and Ko Sung-Hyun along with the pint-sized Cheung Ngan Yi for the Bengaluru Blasters. The Delhi Acers’ foreign contingent impressed in bursts but their consistency was found wanting.

It can be safely said that the Premier Badminton League has lived-up to its promise of delivering high-class badminton to the fans, making the sport more engrossing and entertaining for everyone involved with its action-packed format.